Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Fright Night (1985)

After watching Coherence last night, I decided to kick back and watch something I had not seen in quite a while. In fact, I’m not sure if I have watched this one during the last 25 years. That movie is the original 1985 entry Fright Night.

Plot/ For young Charley Brewster, nothing could be better than an old horror movie late at night. Two men move in next door, and for Charley with his horror movie experience, there can be no doubt that their strange behavior is explained by the fact that they are a vampire and his undead day guardian. The only one who can help him hunt them down is a washed-up actor, Peter Vincent, who hosts Charley's favorite TV show, Fright Night.

As I mentioned, it had been some time since I watched the original version of Fright Night and I am glad that I decided to do that. This film is even better than I remembered it and is definitely light years ahead of the remake from a few years ago. Watching this was like taking a trip down memory lane for me. Having grown up in that era, I can relate to a lot of what is transpiring with the setting, soundscape, dialog, and even some of the thoughts that were discussed. When you couple that with some tremendous performances from an outstanding cast, awesome cinematography and direction, and a perfect mixture of dark atmosphere, creepiness, and special effects that were ahead of their time for 1985. Yes, some of the fashions seem dated and there is the typical cheese-factor that was prevalent in the 1980s, but other than that, this movie is one of the best vampire flicks of the decade. In the end, if you have not seen this one you are missing out. It is a perfect example of why classic horror films should not be remade, as there was no chance the reboot could live up to the bar set by this one. It’s on Shudder, so check it out!